Among other topics, relations with Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay and Chile, the reactive gestures and pragmatism with Washington, economic management and the renegotiation of the foreign debt have marked Buenos Aires’ foreign policy during Néstor Kirchner’s term of office. To understand what challenges Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will face in the realm of foreign policy, in this article I take stock of Argentina’s achievements and mistakes during the period of 2003–2007.

What are the reasons for holding the Iberian-American summits? And for not holding them. Where does the skepticism come from? What was expected of Summit XVII in Santiago de Chile? Are these Summits justified? The Parallel Summit. The importance of face-to-face meetings. The debate about institutional quality in Latin America. Next, the first part of the analysis.

Álvaro Colom is the new president of Guatemala after elections that were clean but marked by absenteeism and an elevated number of intentionally null votes. The principal objectives of the new legislature are to overcome the criminality rate, lack of security, poverty and low levels of production. Right now the key lies in governability.

The rejection of certain models that are not conducive to integration, overcoming the idea that ideological affinities like We can do it, decreasing the democratic deficit and carefully assimilating the potential of Venezuela: the story of the work that should be done to resolve the Mercosur crisis in order to escape stagnation.

The discovery of an important oil reserve situated in the Gulf of Guinea between Santo Tomé and Príncipe and Guinea Ecuatorial has piqued American, French and Chinese interest in this African region. By 2010, daily production could surpass the current 3 million barrels and eventually reach 6 million, while the reserves are estimated to contain 24 billion barrels’ worth of oil. Let’s examine why it is so important that control and openness prevail in the exploitation agreements.

The Argentinians and Brazilians must overcome their old historic mistrusts, because there is no possible fate for an isolated Argentina, or for an isolated Brazil. The solution is to strengthen integration, which demands giving up individual ownership and sharing certain positions. There is no alternative, because the risk of inaction is to be converted into simple segments indifferent of the international market.

According to a recent report by the McKinsey Company published in The McKinsey Quarterly, there is a breach of trust between consumers and global corporations, which creates a lack of understanding between business leaders and consumers. The solution: more social responsibility. Where all will win: business, governments, and the civil society.

Even though the leading causes of to global warming originated in industrialized countries, the poorest regions, like those in Africa, will be the ones most affected due to their dependence on the presence natural resources that can be greatly affected by climate change.

No one has any doubt that the structural funds received from the European Union have contributed in an irrefutable manner to the economic growth witnessed in Spain during the past twenty years. There are aspects in which these funds have placed Spain amongst the highest of European societies, most importantly in the fields of productivity, advanced technology, research, ecology, and innovation.